Starlight
by Artful
Summary: Ami and Piccolo spend a night on a mountaintop. r+r


This was written for Rami and is based on her story "Anywhere Else But Here" (storyid 193712 ). r+r  
  
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Ami shivered.  
  
She tucked her chin between her knees as she wrapped her arms around her legs. Hugging herself for warmth, she stared out across the icy landscape. Her power as the Senshi of ice protected her from the ill effects of this environment, but did not take the edge off the chill wind as it caressed her exposed skin.  
  
'Or from the ice I'm sitting on', she thought as she shifted uncomfortably. Ami wished intensely that her uniform were anything other than a thin blouse and a skirt that didn't even reach her knees.  
  
With a sigh, Ami shoved her discomfort back as she gazed down. From her vantage point at the summit of the mountain, she had a clear view of her surroundings. A mighty range of mountains stretched out to the horizon, seemingly endless. An army of peaks, many taller than the one she sat on, pierced the sky. Everything in sight was buried under meters of snow, which covered deadly crevasses. Not even the maddest mountaineer would travel through this terrain.  
  
The night was cloudless, and the rarefied air of the mountain allowed starlight to pass through with a brightness and clarity never seen by city-dwellers. The light sparkled iridescent on the mountains, refracted by the snow into a rainbow of colors. The mountains answered the sky with their own field of stars.  
  
Ami considered the mountains thoughtfully. The display should have been much brighter than it was. This night there should have been a full moon.   
  
She turned her gaze upward. She had spent the night searching the sky. Mars was there, a bright red spot in the heavens. Jupiter was visible as a crescent. Venus would rise an hour before the Sun; and although she wouldn't be able to see tiny Mercury with her bare eyes, Ami was confident it was there. The North Star and the constellations were in their appointed place. All was right with the heavens. But yet, there was no moon.  
  
Ami blinked as her eyes started to water. Not even a remnant was visible. The alien must have been telling the truth. The moon was destroyed.  
  
As she gazed out at the stars, her thoughts turned to the alien she had met in this frozen wasteland. The alien who had rescued her from the crashed plane. The alien who had saved her from the horrifying Shinigami who had attacked her. The alien who then used her as bait to lure more of the monsters.  
  
Piccolo.  
  
Piccolo had glibly claimed that he had destroyed the moon. Given the amount of power he had shown in his battles, Ami was hard pressed to doubt him. Even the very sky stood as mute testimony to his statement.  
  
"Ami!"  
  
Ami looked down, startled. As if summoned by her thoughts, the figure of Piccolo resolved itself a hundred feet below. He advanced slowly, scanning his surroundings carefully as he went. His dark gi seemed a shadow against the luminous snow, and his skin faded to a non-descript gray.  
  
He stopped and put his hands up to his mouth, not daring more than a harsh whisper. "Ami! Where are you?"  
  
Ami buried her face into her knees. 'Please,' she thought, 'don't let him see me.'  
  
No such luck. Piccolo caught the flash of motion and jogged toward Ami. "Come on," he said as he reached her. "We need to get back to the cave."   
  
Ami didn't look up. "Go away, Piccolo," she said quietly as she hugged herself. "I'm thinking."  
  
He grabbed her left shoulder. "Look, kid!" Piccolo roughly hauled her to her feet. Ami looked down, refusing to meet his fearsome expression. "We're going back to the cave!" He glanced to his left. "It's way too open..."  
  
Whatever Piccolo was about to say was cut off as Ami's unseen right hand delivered a powerful backhand slap.  
  
He turned back to Ami, his right hand moving automatically to his cheek. She now stared straight at him. Her face was a mask of pure fury. She opened her mouth and loosed a single, inarticulate cry.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Ami stepped back and threw a punch that could crush boulders.   
  
Piccolo was a veteran. He had fought enemies powerful and ruthless enough to destroy whole cities. He didn't even bother to block such a weak attack. It was a testament to Ami's desperate strength that the blow managed rocked him back, slightly. Ami reached back to punch a second time. Piccolo timed carefully and whipped his hand out, snaring her wrist. Her other hand came forward to free the first and was captured in turn.  
  
Piccolo leaned forward, baring his teeth. "I said we're going back..."  
  
"Why did you destroy the moon?" Ami shouted at Piccolo.  
  
Piccolo blinked. "I..."  
  
"The moon kingdom was up there!" Ami continued to shout, unheeding. "It wasn't enough for the dark kingdom to destroy it! You had to blow up the ruins!" Ami struggled, trying to break his grasp. "Now they'll never be reborn! I'll never see them again... Usagi..."  
  
Her knees buckled and fell to the ground. Piccolo reached quickly, grabbing her shoulders to prevent a full collapse. He felt her body shudder with gasping sobs. After a minute she lifted her now swollen red eyes up to Piccolo. "I'm so sorry..."  
  
In broken sentences, she explained the moon kingdom, the silver millennium, and her own role as Princess of Mercury. She told of the rise of the dark kingdom, and Serenity's sacrifice so that they might be reborn. Piccolo stared at her the whole time, quietly absorbing what she said. She finally told how Usagi had rescued her from a mind-controlling youma, awaking her past as Sailor Mercury.  
  
"So, I thought... with the moon gone..." she giggled nervously and hiccoughed. "I must seem silly... this is a different dimension and all... there was probably never a moon kingdom here..."  
  
Piccolo turned his face, his alien expression unreadable. He thoughts drifted to a far distant planet, now covered with the scars and craters of battle. "I understand."  
  
Ami gasped, astonished. She was curious about his reaction, but didn't want to press him.  
  
Piccolo sat down in the snow next to Ami. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and she snuggled in close to him for warmth. "Let me tell you a story. Do you remember when I told you about Gohan?" She nodded on his chest.  
  
"Gohan is actually an alien, too." He noticed her puzzled glance. "Oh, not like me. His father was from a race called the Saiyan. They look almost identical to humans, except for the tails. Saiyans are fierce warriors. With one unusual ability." Piccolo narrowed his eyes. "They can change their form in the right conditions. I found this out far too late. One night when we were training in the wilderness, he changed. He turned into a giant..." Piccolo paused and grimaced. "A giant beast. His power in that form was incredible. His very breath was a weapon. I couldn't fight him directly. I had to stop the conditions that allowed him to change form before he destroyed everything."  
  
Piccolo turned to stare directly at Ami. "It was moonlight that allowed him to change form. If I hadn't destroyed the moon, he would have destroyed the Earth."  
  
Ami considered for a moment and stared back intensely. "Was that the only reason?"  
  
Piccolo faltered. "I... I couldn't leave him like that."  
  
Ami settled back in Piccolo's embrace. "I understand. You did what you had to." She tried to hold back a yawn, and failed.  
  
Piccolo tucked his arm under Ami's legs and gently picked her up. "Come on," he said, "we have to get back to the cave. We're too vulnerable to the Shinigami out here."  
  
Ami relaxed in his strong arms as he carried her down the mountain. "Piccolo?"  
  
"Hmm?" he grunted as his eyes swept over the path to the cave.  
  
"We're going to win, right? We'll defeat the Shinigami?"  
  
He looked down at her. She seemed as delicate as a snowflake, spun from the brilliant starlight that shone down upon the mountains. He grinned. "Yeah. We're going to win."  
  
"Good." She closed her eyes and leaned into Piccolo's chest. We he looked down again, she had fallen asleep, smiling peacefully.  



End file.
